Ukraine’s President in Berlin amid Concern Over Trump-Putin Summit (Worthy News Radio)

by Stefan J. Bos, Worthy News Europe Bureau Chief

WASHINGTON/BERLIN/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Germany’s capital, Berlin, on Wednesday to join a videoconference with European leaders and U.S. President Donald J. Trump amid concerns over Trump’s upcoming summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy and other leaders want to ensure that no deal will be agreed between Washington and Moscow over ending the war in Ukraine without Kyiv’s involvement.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy briefly left his war-torn nation after Russia stepped up deadly drone and missile strikes in recent days.

Zelenskyy and his delegation arrived by helicopter at the Federal Chancellery in Berlin. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz embraced Zelenskyy in the garden near the helipad.

But there was little time for pleasantries—the two leaders quickly moved to a bilateral meeting, followed by high-stakes talks with other European leaders on how to end Russia’s war against Ukraine.

There’s growing concern in Kyiv and other European capitals that Friday’s meeting between U.S. President Donald J. Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska could include proposals to swap territories.

Trump made that pledge at a White House news conference. “We are going to change the lines, the battle lines. Russia has occupied a big portion of Ukraine. They occupied prime territory. We’re going to try to get some of that territory back for Ukraine,” he told reporters.

Trump also lashed out at what he called “very unfair” media reports quoting his fired former national security adviser John Bolton, who warned that even though the meeting is on American soil, “Putin has already won.”

RUSSIA’S WARNING

Russia reiterated on Wednesday that its conditions for ending the war have not changed.

They include the complete withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from key regions and abandoning Kyiv’s ambitions to join NATO.

President Zelenskyy has publicly rejected those demands.

Still, Trump wrote on social media that he believes European leaders are—in his words—“great people who want to see a deal done.”

The war is believed to have killed and injured more than a million people, including children, while forcing millions more to flee their homes.

Besides the American, Ukrainian, and German leaders, Wednesday’s meeting included heads of state and government from Ukraine’s key supporters—France, Britain, Italy, Poland, and Finland—along with the EU’s executive European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Antonio Costa, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

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